MANILA/YILAN: Typhoon Gaemi and a southwest monsoon brought heavy rain on Wednesday to the Philippine capital region and northern provinces, prompting authorities to halt work and classes, while stock and foreign exchange trading were suspended.
The presidential office suspended classes at all academic levels and work in most government offices in the capital region, which is composed of 16 cities and home to at least 13 million people, because of the tropical storm.
Gaemi, with maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometres per hour and gustiness of up to 190 kph, was heading towards Taiwan, the Philippines' state weather agency said in a 5 am bulletin.
It did not make landfall but it is enhancing a southwest monsoon, resulting in heavy to intense rain in northern Philippines, the agency said. "Flooding and rain-induced landslides are likely."
Gaemi and another tropical storm, Prapiroon, hit southern Philippines and caused floods last week, resulting in seven deaths.
The Philippine coastguard said 354 passengers and 31 vessels were stranded in ports while airlines cancelled 13 flights on Wednesday, Manila's airport authority said.
The Philippines sees an average of 20 tropical storms annually, causing floods and deadly landslides.
Taiwan hunkered down on Wednesday ahead of the arrival of Gaemi, with financial markets closed, people given the day off work, flights cancelled, and the military put on stand-by amid forecasts of torrential rain and strong winds.
Gaemi, the first typhoon of the season to affect Taiwan, is expected to make landfall on the northeast coast early evening on Wednesday, according to the island's Central Weather Administration.
Currently categorised as a medium-strength typhoon by Taiwan, it is then likely to move across the Taiwan Strait and then hit the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian late afternoon Friday.
In rural Yilan county, where the typhoon will first hit land, wind and rain gathered strength, shutting breakfast eateries and roads mostly emptied.
"This could be the biggest typhoon in recent years," fishing boat captain Hung Chun told Reuters, adding Yilan's Suao harbour was packed with boats seeking shelter.
"It's charging directly towards the east coast and if it makes landfall here the damage would be enormous."
Work and school are suspended across Taiwan, with the streets of capital Taipei almost deserted during what is normally rush hour amid squally rain.
The Transport Ministry said almost all domestic flights had been cancelled, along with 27 international flights.
However, TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple, said it expected its factories to maintain normal production during the typhoon, adding it had activated routine preparation procedures.
Some mountainous central and southern Taiwan counties are expected to see total rainfall of up to 1,800 millimetres during the typhoon, the weather administration said.
Taiwan's defence ministry said it was ready to assist with disaster relief and had put its forces on stand-by.
While the typhoon has severely curtailed this year's annual Han Kuang war games they have not been totally cancelled, with live fire drills taking place as scheduled on the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday morning.
Ahead of the typhoon hitting China, several coastal provinces began preparing with Fujian raising emergency response plans. China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters also issued a heightened emergency response for flooding in Fujian and next door Zhejiang province.
Forecasters expect heavy rainfall across several provinces over the next coming days as the typhoon makes its way north.
While typhoons can be highly destructive, Taiwan also relies on them to replenish reservoirs after the traditionally drier winter months, especially for the southern part of the island.